Founder Glen Schofield leaves Putting Distance Studios

Glen Schofield has determined to go away Putting Distance Studios, the sport studio that he based.

After transport the corporate’s first recreation, The Callisto Protocol, and weathering 32 layoffs earlier this 12 months, Schofield is shifting on to pursue different alternatives. Schofield has a wealthy historical past in triple-A video games. Steve Papoutsis will take over as the brand new CEO.

Schofield and Michael Condrey, who labored collectively at Digital Arts at Visceral Studios to make the primary Lifeless Area recreation, began Sledgehammer Video games, the place they started to work on the Name of Obligation collection. They had been enlisted to assist with Activision’s Name of Obligation: Black Ops title in 2010 and Name of Obligation: Trendy Warfare in 2011. However their first solo effort beneath Activision was Name of Obligation: Superior Warfare, which debuted in 2014. Then Schofield and Condrey headed the workforce that produced Name of Obligation: WWII in 2017.

Amid the disruption attributable to Krafton’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, each Schofield and Condrey left Activision’s Sledgehammer studio in 2018. Condrey left to create thirty first & Union for Take-Two Interactive’s 2K Video games label, whereas Schofield began Putting Distance Studios within the East Bay of the Bay Space in 2019.

Schofield shortly employed numerous recreation veterans, together with quite a few of us from Slegehammer, and constructed the corporate to greater than 150 builders with funding from Krafton.

As an alternative of engaged on one thing within the PUBG universe, Schofield opted to create a religious successor to Lifeless Area. Dubbed the Callisto Protocol, the sport got here out in 2022, but it surely obtained unhealthy evaluations.

It’s not a shock that Schofield is leaving. He stated he’ll pursue different alternatives. In the meantime, Steve Papoutsis, who beforehand served as chief improvement officer and normal supervisor for SDS, hsa grow to be CEO of the studio. Papoutsis was beforehand chief working officer at Baobab Studios, and vp, normal supervisor, and government producer at Digital Arts. Papoutsis labored intently with Schofield since their Crystal Dynamics and Visceral Video games days.

Krafton stated, “Glen’s contributions throughout his time at Krafton have been invaluable. He constructed an ace workforce of skills at SDS and set a excessive commonplace for the work they did collectively on daily basis. We’re assured within the workforce’s continued success due to the numerous influence Glen has had, and for that we owe him our deepest gratitude.”

In a press release, Schofield stated, “Creating Putting Distance Studios has been an unimaginable journey and I’m so happy with what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a recreation near my coronary heart. Whereas pursuing a brand new journey is thrilling, leaving SDS is bittersweet, however I do know the studio is in wonderful arms. Steve and I’m going method again to working at Visceral Video games. I noticed how profitable he was in taking the reins after my departure then and the way he continued the studio’s success and progress. That’s how I do know he’s the one to guide the studio into its subsequent chapter.”

Krafton stated it has been fastidiously planning for the transition to make sure a clean handover and uninterrupted operations. Putting Distance Studios is dedicated to supporting its extremely gifted workforce. It stated its workers stays a high precedence throughout this transition.

In his early years, Schofield was a vp at Crystal Dynamics and he led improvement on Gex and Legacy of Kain. At EA Redwood Studios, he labored on titles akin to The Lord of the Rings in addition to 007: From Russia With Love.